Green Apples - To dump or not dump

[piemaker1976]

I have a belgian that has been in the primary for more than three months and has stopped fermenting. There is a strong green apple taste in the wort. Should I dump it, or repitch with some dry yeast and hope the yeast absorbs it? Will it?

 

[Bearclaw215]

What was your yeast and fermentation temps?

 

[piemaker1976]

WLP530 White Labs Abbey Ale. I made a starter and it seemed to ferment rather well, dropping from 1.071 to 1.010. I'm beginning to suspect that I let it sit too long and that perhaps air got in somehow and the ethanol broke down. I think it's one to chalk up to experience and try to figure out whether I had a bad seal on the bucket, or some other glitch.

 

[urg8rb8]

I don't think letting it set will hurt your beer. If anything, green apple flavor is usually a sign that you need to let the yeast condition the beer more.

 

[Veedo]

damn that sucks, but I have had it happen. you could try pitching an active starter?

 

[piemaker1976]

I have thought about re-pitching it with the idea being that you can't ruin garbage, right? I don;t know that it's a "green-beer" issue, other than maybe it just stalled out, but at the drop in gravity I have seen, and the consistency, I doubt that's it. I mean, I guess the worst I would be out would be some starter and yeast?

 

[Veedo]

I have thought about re-pitching it with the idea being that you can't ruin garbage, right? I don;t know that it's a "green-beer" issue, other than maybe it just stalled out, but at the drop in gravity I have seen, and the consistency, I doubt that's it. I mean, I guess the worst I would be out would be some starter and yeast?

right on, right on, its worth a shot. I pitched an active starter into a lager with diacetyl before and it worked.

 

[AerationStation]

Try warming it up first, you might be able to either clean up our drive off the acetaldehyde

 

[Calypso]

I have thought about re-pitching it with the idea being that you can't ruin garbage, right? I don;t know that it's a "green-beer" issue, other than maybe it just stalled out, but at the drop in gravity I have seen, and the consistency, I doubt that's it. I mean, I guess the worst I would be out would be some starter and yeast?

Actually, acetaldehyde (what is giving you the green apple taste) is an intermediate product and is cleaned up by the yeast. It is recommended to let the beer condition longer, and another option is to add a bit of priming sugar into the fermenter to kick off fermentation again so that the yeast turn the acetaldehyde into ethanol.

 

[m1k3]

Actually, acetaldehyde (what is giving you the green apple taste) is an intermediate product and is cleaned up by the yeast. It is recommended to let the beer condition longer, and another option is to add a bit of priming sugar into the fermenter to kick off fermentation again so that the yeast turn the acetaldehyde into ethanol.

After 3 months I don't think the yeast will get going enough to clean up the acetaldehyde. Might just wind up with a sweet apple beer.

Pitching an actively fermenting starter may not even be enough.

I had a green apple beer never got better. But I had one friend who was happy to take it off my hands.

 

[Calypso]

After 3 months I don't think the yeast will get going enough to clean up the acetaldehyde. Might just wind up with a sweet apple beer.

Pitching an actively fermenting starter may not even be enough.

I had a green apple beer never got better. But I had one friend who was happy to take it off my hands.

Haha, there you go, find a friend that likes it! If the levels are high enough though that the OP finds it off-putting, it's worth trying to fix, or at least to bring the levels down. It can be like drinking apple pucker at higher levels, and no one enjoys that. (I'm kidding, someone probably does.)

 

[JohnSand]

Just bottle it and give it time.